


keep on loving you

by bevioletskies



Series: fic prompts & drabbles [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Marriage Proposal, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 01:24:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15062003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bevioletskies/pseuds/bevioletskies
Summary: “I know we had this conversation when we were two years in, and you told me we could talk about it again in five. So I’m a little early,” he admitted. “But...I love you. And I lost you. And I dunno about you, but I’m done losing people before I get the chance to do and say everything that I need to.”(Anonymous fic prompt: Peter proposing marriage to Gamora with a ring)





	keep on loving you

**Author's Note:**

> **Spoiler warning** for _Avengers: Infinity War_ and one quick mention of _Avengers 4_ speculation. Fic title is from the song [Keep On Loving You](https://open.spotify.com/track/4rcHWl68ai6KvpXlc8vbnE?si=JrMVMmjlSXWIWBW6Ip-pbA) by REO Speedwagon.

It had been six months since... _that_ moment in their lives, and still, it never quite felt like there was enough distance between then and now. Peter still woke every other morning half-expecting the mattress to be too cold from absence and his chest to burn too hot with longing, only to find himself pinned to the bed by the welcome weight of another body, only it wasn’t just another body, it was _hers_. She was warm, she was steady, she was here.

Things were the same, and they weren’t. The others were as rambunctious as ever, squabbling over nothing and everything at the same time, only now, they fell silent whenever she entered the room, staring at her with big, liquid eyes and a nervous, half-hearted smile. Rocket was the worst of them, being the only one who never “died”, aside from Nebula, who was oddly fidgety, avoiding her sister as much as one could on a ship as cramped as theirs.

Gamora supposed it couldn’t be helped; she was the only Guardian to have _actually_ died. It still stung something fierce, however, to be woken by the sound of Peter pacing outside their bedroom door. “I’m here, Peter,” she would say every time, reaching out for him.

“You are,” he would reply with a watery chuckle, following her back inside.

Lately, though, Peter seemed worried over something of a different nature. A fog had lifted over his head, only to be replaced by a storm. If anything, it was the complete opposite of before - instead of hovering, he would vanish, slipping into the supply closet with nothing but a tablet and a nervous passing hello for hours at a time. He came to bed late and rose to wake early, had private conversations with the others far more often than he usually did. Gamora wanted to pry, she really did, but she respected him as a person - and them as a partnership - too much to ask.

It was only when he didn’t come to bed at all one night that she finally decided to investigate, shrugging on one of his hoodies, the kind where the hem grazed her mid-thigh and swallowed her up like one of his hugs, and tiptoed up the ladder to the cockpit without so much as a creak. It was early-late, her eyes were tired and her brain was pleasantly fuzzy, and she just wanted them both to get a good night’s sleep. “Peter.”

He swung around in the pilot’s seat rather comically, eyes bugged out of his head. “Gamora! What’re you - go back to bed, I’ll be right there.”

“I’ve entertained you long enough. You can’t hide from me,” Gamora said accusingly. “I’m not mad, I promise. I just want to know that you’re okay. That there isn’t someone after you, or _us_ , or - ”

“What makes you say that?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay, yeah, I’ve been a little...all over the place lately. I was, um...I was having trouble. Finding the words that I wanted to say. And how I wanted to say them.”

“I never thought of you as the type to struggle for words.” She smiled wryly, sitting opposite him. “Try me.”

“It’s _meant_ for you, it’s...it’s why I haven’t been the most attentive boyfriend these past couple weeks,” Peter said apologetically. “I didn’t wanna give up the ghost. Though I guess you figured me out anyways, so really, I was just delaying the inevitable.”

“As you continue to do. You’re stalling,” Gamora observed, though not unkindly. “Peter, refined orator you are _not_. Tell me what’s on your mind, as it is.”

“Uncensored, hey?” Peter chuckled, his eyes softening, crinkling at the corners as they were oft to do. He took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers together and bringing them to rest in his lap. The other hand went into the pocket of his sweatpants, and slid out with a small, nondescript box. Gamora let out a soft noise of surprise. “So...I guess you know what _this_ is.”

“Peter,” she breathed.

“I know we had this conversation when we were two years in, and you told me we could talk about it again in five. So I’m a little early,” he admitted. “But...I love you. And I lost you. And I dunno about you, but I’m done losing people before I get the chance to do and say everything that I need to.” His eyes grew suspiciously glossy. “Sometimes, I...I think of my life as being split into three parts. The eight years with Mom. Twenty-four years with Yondu. And now...four years with the team. With you. I just...I don’t know if losing the people that I love most is...is _my_ fault, or...or if it’s just the universe’s way of screwin’ with me. But somehow, you’re here again, and I don’t wanna waste that. I want more time. All the time I can get. I want to marry you.”

“Show me.” Gamora nodded towards the box. Wordlessly, Peter flicked it open with his thumb, revealing a simple silver band, not unlike the silver of the rings she already wore every day, only this one was embedded with small, pale gold stars. “Oh, Peter.”

“It’s not for ‘Star-Lord’, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m not _that_ much of a self-obsessed a-hole,” Peter laughed. “It’s for you. As cheesy as it sounds, you guide me. You light the way back.  _You_ were the one who made the Guardians happen, _you_ were the one who figured out how to escape the Soul Dimension, you...you are the most incredible woman in the entire galaxy. And I would be the happiest man in the universe, whether you want to marry me or not.” At Gamora’s surprised expression, he chuckled again. “Marrying you is...yeah, it’s something I wanna do, but if marriage isn’t your thing, if we spend the rest of our lives as partners, I would be just as happy. I spent so long looking for the family that I’d lost or could never find, and I found it with you. Even if you aren’t my wife, I always want you to be my girl.”

Gamora let out a shaky breath. She felt rather lightheaded, though she wasn’t sure if it was from the exhaustion, or the unfamiliar words making a home in her brain. Her other hand came to rest on top of his, her knuckles grazing the side of the box, though she didn’t want to touch it quite yet. “Before the Guardians, but after my parents, love was just a word to me, not a feeling. And now I hear it, I see it, I feel it in _everything_ , and it...it changed me. It’s in your music, your words, the way you hold me and kiss me. You are full of so much _love_ , Peter, and it’s one of my favorite things about you. And there are so many things about you that just make me so _happy_. I can’t speak to exactly what it is...I don’t have the eloquence for it. But what I can say is...your loss, it’s not your fault. None of them were. And...I love you. More than anything. And yes, I will marry you.”

There was a pause, then - Peter smiled at her, something wide and gentle and a little crooked, the smile he reserved especially for her. His hands trembled with nerves as he eased the ring onto her outstretched finger, brushing a kiss into her knuckles before bringing their joined hands to rest on his lap once more, tears streaking down his cheeks in silent joy, unable to say or do much more than observe her and savor her presence. Gamora used her other hand to gently wipe them away, only to realize she, too, was starting to cry. “We don’t have to do anything big, by the way,” Peter sniffled as they both got to their feet, moving to leave the cockpit. “But I do have one request.”

“What’s that?” Gamora asked.

He let out a wet laugh. “To have a first dance as husband and wife.”

“Of course,” she snorted, shaking her head amusedly. “Do you have a song in mind?”

“Oh, about fifty. But we might be thinkin’ of the same one.” Peter gently swung her around to his front, taking her other hand in his and swaying back and forth, stepping to the beat of the song that was playing in both of their heads. Gamora, happily overwhelmed with pure, unadulterated bliss, stood on her toes to kiss him, pleased as he chased her lips to meet her halfway. Her hands slid into his hair, his around her waist, tangling themselves together until their shadow was one. They continued to take small, measured steps as they kissed, when Peter suddenly stumbled over his own feet, breaking the kiss.

Gamora tilted his chin upward with her thumb, concerned. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just...I’m really tired. Spent _way_ too long looking for places that could make that ring, and comin’ up with everything I wanted to say…” He interrupted himself with a well-deserved, albeit ill-timed yawn. “Dunno if I can make it all the way back to bed.”

“That’s okay,” Gamora replied, patting him sympathetically on the chest. She, too, was beginning to lose her balance from deliriously happy exhaustion. “I’m here.”

Peter smiled. “You are.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just some quick, good old-fashioned post- _Infinity War_ fluff and angst! The mention of _Avengers 4_ speculation, by the way, is the bit about Gamora being the one to escape the Soul Dimension. I've seen some theories about her understanding it the most, being there the longest out of all the "dead" characters, but we'll see how it plays out eventually.
> 
> You can read this fic on [tumblr](http://bevioletskies.tumblr.com/post/175321235089/starmora-movie-verse-prompt-peter-proposing) if you'd like, and I take Peter/Gamora fic prompts at any time, including those for my own fic 'verses, [twenty questions](https://archiveofourown.org/series/823920) and [everybody wants to rule the world](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12841176). Thank you so much for reading, comments and kudos would be much appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
